Postal franking-machine.



E. MOS-5?.

POSTAL FRANMNG MACHINE.

Amsfrmu: um@ my 1112.

1,1 29, l l 1. Fammi Feb. 23, m5.

ERNEST MOSS, F CHRISTCHUMH, NEW ZEALAND.

POSTAL FRANKING-MCHINE.

Patente-e ser. es, 1915;

Application tiled Hay 13, m2, Serial Ho. 696,333.

To all ywhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNEST Moss., a ieet of the Kin of (freor. Brilffin, rng :it lill Herefor-f. street, Chris arch. New Zealand, have invented. new and useful Improi'ex'nents in and Relating to Postal Franking-Ma-Chines, of which the following is a specification.

rlhis invention relates to postal final-ing and similar' machines and to that which a letter or other matter is ini; or stumped with the prepaid o amount by means of a die ops mechanical means. ln devices ol. ture as hitherto cimstrucled, it. his om; foundlpossiblc by inserting imite or other instrument, to press the metter again ln surface of the dic and so to fraudulently ob tain an impression witholit operating the machine.

The obje-ct of the present- .invention therefore the pro 'i i. means which render such fraudulent ose inuLivossilile While bythe employment of two dissimilar and inks of dissimilar colors, the reprodlio tion of the impression 'by a. lithographie similar process will lso precluded.

,Vith this objectin lview the consultation comprises a .supplementary diel slidubly mounted Within e hollow core formed through the main die und its shrink, a. suit able spring being provided to normally maintain suoli supplementary die upward With its surface within the core. The de pression of the auxiliary die by means of e` small plunger adfrped lo slide within the said, core in the 'onlin plunger, '.lhe main die :and 'its plunger are also controlled by suitable Springs which tend to normally hold them. upward.

The inking el' the dies is effected by means of an ink pad consisting of two port-ions; one containing ink for the main sind zur other containing ink for the aililifiry uie. The wo inlrs are preferably of a dissiniilar in order to L vent the impression odilced by :my one process. ine .and the The psd so inl-.iced 'iles that each receives the i foo to remain nors in the in iiiggjposisonic some other dutifully position W i. .feqinredlis.

moved by the either case such pail will fue carried clear or Lilie dies before the 'matter can be impressed.

.instead or one pad containing two dis- .siniiar inks es above described, the saine purpose our; be eected by the employment of two pads adapted to operate in the above manner.

In order that the nature of the invention may be olly understood, reference will now alle "to the accompanying drawing in 'c l'i .were Le is an elevation illnsirating one of operating 'the dies and pad, pari. y iown in section for the Sake of clear- Flgs. 2 to are sectionalelevations of the dies and their plungers illustrating the .-:ul'\; essr\fe movements necessary for samping the mat-ler. Fig. 6., shows by 'way exmnple :in impression ilpon the manier as produced by the depression of the main die :is Fig. 3. Fig. shows the @une merli c etc-.d by the depression of iuxilinry :is in Fig. il. and Fig. 8rfi plan View of the linking pad. and means 3.',-erm'ing is the :nain plunger upon the lower ein lfeinrty o? which carried the main die Q.

i ne plunger l is adapted to slide in guides formed in the framework 3 so as to permit 4 of its being depressed for the purpose of inipreesing the die :l upon the matter in the required, manner, While to maintain such plunger and its die normally in en upward position, a suitable spring llis employed. .lic said iilonger l and die 2 are formed with e liiollow core 5 within which is adaptto slido li supplementary plunger 6 cari ing n which when depressed upon the metter completes the inurl; (as shown in Fig. Y). 'lhe plunger i) is maintained normally upward with its die 7 inaccessible within lhc core 5 as shown in Figs. 2, 3, and .3 by menus. of :i spring S.

To villinithe slmping, the matter is pince/d beneath :he Llies, the latter being in their normal position :is shown in Fig. 2, :ind irai-sirio' been previously inked in the nimmer hereinafter described. The main die is Llicn depressed, :is in Fig. 23, in order to give'hc lirst impression 3G :is illustrated in Fig. 'l`lie supplementary die 7 is then l depresscl'l, :is in lfig. 11; so as to make its f pressed will engage and depress the main plunger l so that as the shaft l0 is rotated the main plunger 1 Will be depressed. and

allowed to rise again under action of the spring 4 as the varying radii of the cam 9 are brought to bear upon it. To reduce friction an anti-friction ball 1l' 'to take the thrust from the cam 9 may be provided and the periphery of the cam suitably grooved as shown. The springs 3l and allow for various thicknesses of envelops When stamping. by acting as a cushion and also tend te hold the plungers 32 and 33 in their raised position at the saine time keeping the ball li in close contact with the cam 9.

Connected with the main shaft 10 by means of suitable gearing 12, is a supplementary shaft 13 with which again is connected by bevel gearing 14, a `:ertical shaft provided with a cam l5 Which controls the movement-s of the supplementary die 7. To enable the cani l5 to operate the die 7 lever iti is fnlcrumed as at 17 upon a sleeve or collar 18 loosely mounted upon the vertical shaft carrying the cani 15, such collar being prevented from moving upward or downward upon the said shaft by reason of its ends abutting the lower end of the shaftbearing and the upper face of the boss of the carin 15.

Projecting from one end ot the lever 16 is a spring finger 19 adaptedto boar upon a pin 2Q projecting from the side of the plunger 6 and extending through a suitable slot 21 formed through the side or" the plunger l, While the portion of the saidv lever 16 upon the opposite side of the fulcrum 17, is provided with'a setpin 22 adapted to ride upon the surface of the caml. To assist in lceeping the setpin 22 in engagement with the cam l5, a suitable spring 23 is connected to the portion of the lever extending beyond Such set-pin7 While to provide a guide for the lever and prevent it from becoming dis-- placed, its` extremity is arranged to slide Within a slot 24 lformed in the framework of the machine. f

By this arrangement, upon rotating the main shaft 10 the main die 2 Will irst be caused to descend by reason of the pressure of the cam 9 upon the plunger l. The timing is so arranged that after the main die has been depressed, the higher portion of the cam 15 is brought to bear upon the setpin 22 which action causes the lever 11i to rock "upon its fulcrum and so by causing the spring linger 19 to bear down the pin 20, serves to depress the supplementary die.- The object of employing the spring-finger 19 is to provide sufficient resilience iu depressing the die 7 to allow of matter of various thicknesses being stamped. As the cam l5 continues to turn it presents a lower portion of its surface to the set-pin 22 and consequently the lever is allowed to return, thus permitting the die 7 to be withdrawn into the core 5 by means of its spring 8, after which the cam 9 allows the main plunger l to rise again under action of the spring 4. The cams 9 and l5 are so formed that they will serve also to depress their respective dies upon the inking pad or pads) at the required moment. The construction of operating means as above described 'is however intended by way of example only and as numerous other ways of eli'ecting these movements may be devised, this feature of the invention is not to be confined to such but to the employment of two dies adapted to cooperate to produce a complete impres sion, actuated by any suitable means.

The inking pad 25, 'which is circular in form comprises two por-tions; an outer portion a containing ink for 'the main die, and an inner portion o, concentric therewith containing inlr for supplementary die and, as previously explained these two inks may be dissimilar in color and composition. The said pad 25 is concentrically pivoted as at 26 upon the extremity of an arm 27 which is itself pivoted at its other extremity upon the framework "as at 28 so as to permit of, .its swinging in a horizontal plane To maintain the pad nominally clear of the dies, a suitable spring 29 may be arranged to bear against the side of the arm 27, While to bring such pad into the operative position when required for hiking the dies a suitablyshaped cam 59 upon the vertical shaft ci the. eri-m, 15, is adapted to engage against the opposite side of the arm Si.

Instead of maintaining the pad 25 .normally clear of the dies it may if desired be arranged to lie normally beneath the dies and temporarily removed, by means of the ear-.1 30 While the 'stamping is taking place. in either case` the spring 29 may be dis pensed with and the cam arranged so as to act positively in bothdirections.

In order to elfect the .turning4 of the pad so as to bring the contact of the dies into a dift'erent place each time a spring finger 8l is provided, such spring finger being secured at one extremity uponJ the framework while its remaining portion is normally` disposed tangentially with and a slight distance away from the periphery'of the pad 25. .The arrangement is such however that the cam 30 upon turning so as to carry the pad into the i pgsition, the length for the two dies, two se amie pads each mmtrolled in the manner escribed may he om ployed.

'I claim 1, In n machine of the clues described, in n frame, a pnnger corr ying a die slidably mounted therein, sind plunger being recessed, and a second plunger wirr?- ing a die slidably positioneai Wit .is the cess olf. said first plunger, and means for normally holding each plungerin its raised of said second plunger ng less than the le h of the recess in said first hinge-r, `Where y said mond pion ger is he d within said recess.

2. In a. machine of the class described, in combination, aJ frame, a plunger carrying a. die slidably mounted therein, said plunger being recessed, e second plunger carrying :t die slidably positioned within the recess; of said first plunger, means normally holding; each plunger in its raised position., means or depressing said first plunger to cai e the die carried thereby to make un impre l means for subsequentlf depressing sazv- 0nd plunger to amuse t .ie die carried there ,j to make an impression.

3. In a machine of the class deseribed, in oombination, a frame, a plunger co.V ing a die siida'bly mounted thereimsaid-)lunger bei! recessed, o second plunger carrying a die s idably positioned within the recess of said first. plunger, means normally holding nach plunger in its raised position, menne for depressing said first plunger to cause me die earried thereby to make an impl-es sion, and means subsequently depressing said smond plunger to canse the die carried thereby to make an impression, seid second mentioned means releasing the plunger as' siociad therewith before said first men tioned means :.oleases 'the piunger associate herew ith.

4. In a machine of the class described, in combination, main and supplemental dies, an ink pad provided with two portions pied to carry inks of dilerent character, means for moving said pad into and out of operative relation to said dies, and' means fior moving one only of said dies into operative relation with one of said portions and the other onliy of said dies into operative relation with the other of said portions.

ln. iestiinony whereof l. have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

ERNEST MOSS.

W itnesses c p lnncy R1 annoso Cumul, CYRIL CARLYM Comms. 

